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LUANDA Part of the Way

Angola’s Marxist government has decided to go part of the way toward regaining the economic health the country had when its colonial Portuguese rulers left it 13 years ago. But it will not give up its 12-year-old war, spurred on by Cuban and Soviet auxiliaries, against the rebel movement UNITA, which has been fighting a successful guerrilla action against it. In a New Year’s message, President José Eduardo dos Santos focused on the rescheduling of Angola’s International Monetary Fund loan of $4 billion as a primary step in restoring some balance to the country’s once-rich economy. He said that the delay in doing so was caused by “excessive ideological zeal,” but added that his government was approaching Western countries such as France and Britain for talks on external obligations. Dos Santos also warned the West that Angola would not allow any outside interference or permit the growth of conditions that might lead to economic dependence. (Angola has been receiving substantial help from Eastern-bloc countries, especially the Soviet Union, for years.) Meanwhile, he promised to restructure the domestic economy by improving the supply of market goods, reducing black-market trafficking, and adjusting prices.

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LUANDA Part of the Way

Angola’s Marxist government has decided to go part of the way toward regaining the economic health the country had when its colonial Portuguese rulers left it 13 years ago. But it will not give up its 12-year-old war, spurred on by Cuban and Soviet auxiliaries, against the rebel movement UNITA, which has been fighting a successful guerrilla action against it. In a New Year’s message, President José Eduardo dos Santos focused on the rescheduling of Angola’s International Monetary Fund loan of $4 billion as a primary step in restoring some balance to the country’s once-rich economy. He said that the delay in doing so was caused by “excessive ideological zeal,” but added that his government was approaching Western countries such as France and Britain for talks on external obligations. Dos Santos also warned the West that Angola would not allow any outside interference or permit the growth of conditions that might lead to economic dependence. (Angola has been receiving substantial help from Eastern-bloc countries, especially the Soviet Union, for years.) Meanwhile, he promised to restructure the domestic economy by improving the supply of market goods, reducing black-market trafficking, and adjusting prices.